Restaurant review: Café 906

Step into Café 906 in its new home, comfortably situated among the other restaurants in Baldwin Park’s “restaurant row,” and you step into France. Much like that “I’m-in-another- country” feeling you get inside the restaurants at Disney’s EPCOT, this French café is real French. Offering breakfast and lunch in the form of freshly baked pastries, croissants, baguettes and quiches, all this French wonderfulness is served with a tip of the beret to coffees prepared from locally roasted beans.

And we should appreciate these French comfort foods, because we almost didn’t have them. The story of how the Vallee family finally came together here in Baldwin Park smacks of the intrigue of a James Bond movie. The Vallees love the USA and were thrilled to open their first (very French) café on Fairbanks in Winter Park. They opened it … and the people came.

But when the opportunity came to open Café 906 in Baldwin Park, the family decided to make the leap to a Baldwin Park address. And all was right with the world until the family returned to France to renew their visas. Father Vincent went through fine; their teenage daughter made it through as well; but when it came to charming, petite, chef-of-the-family mother Maryline to come back to America, her visa was flagged – “for probably 15 days.” And then the bureaucracies of two Allied countries – the U.S. and France – dropped the ball. Five months later, Maryline and her family are now reunited in the U.S.

Rejoice. Maryline Vallee is a wonderful, and deeply committed chef, and we want her cooking and baking in Baldwin Park. Her return to the United States also means that the menu will be enhanced “at about one new item a week” and give Vincent the time to obtain a wine license. When asked about the missing wine, Vincent rolls his eyes (that’s pretty French too) and says, “A French place without wine … shouldn’t exist.”

Of the menu items available now – all of which are created fresh daily in the kitchen by Maryline – their version of a sandwich is an open-face baguette (crusty, homemade, French bread) with a classic variety of meats and cheeses leading to fun names like the Louvre, Palais-Royale, and the Bastille. The homemade soups are seasonal and exceptional. I had the sweet potato with curry and coconut milk soup and found it rich, creamy and wonderfully favored.

The spinach and feta quiche served with a side salad was a charming lunch, but I was still in comfort food mode, so I indulged in the Brie and cranberry Feuillete. Wrapped in paper-thin dough, (which only happens in Europe and/or by European chefs who carry the talent with them), the Feuillete (also served with the side salad) was luxurious. While my American head kept telling me it was like a dessert, I reminded myself the Feuillete is found in the same section of the refrigerated glass-front counter as the sandwiches.

Manager-owner Vincent reminded me that no French meal is complete without at least one gorgeously sweet – and often chocolaty – dessert. And the choices here are wondrous. Choose from filled croissants, fruit tarts, éclairs, traditional crepes, and the too-wonderful variety of Lava Cakes. As a confirmed chocoholic, I tried the chocolate crepe, which is perfect for any time of the day. But I got my real chocolate fix from the lava cakes, which are offered in choices including Framboise, Nutella, peanut butter, and milk chocolate. The fun of the lava cake is the gooey, hot chocolate center, and these ingenious creations are pre-made so that three minutes in the microwave and voila – incredible dessert. This also means that clever home entertainers can now buy the lava cakes and take them home for dinner parties or lucky family members.

Now you have several reasons to visit Café 906, and here are two more: One is an invitation from manager-owner Vincent Vallee to visit the Café on Tuesday mornings at 9:30 a.m. when French (on all levels) is spoken exclusively inside the Café. It’s like a French lesson – complete with coffee and a croissant.

The second is a friendly cup of coffee. For the month of October, when you tell the counter-person that, “Josh sent me,” you will receive one free locally roasted coffee when you buy a pastry or a sandwich. Have fun. Try out your “Bon jour,” and tell them, “Josh sent me.”